Year after year, aid donors pay for displaced people to live as aid-dependent refugees. Even though resettlement can create huge value for families and countries, resettlement rates are very low, and many governments are unwilling to shoulder the cost of short-term help like health and welfare that refugees need. CGD’s Innovative Finance for Resettlement Working Group proposes converting that multi-year aid expenditure into an upfront endowment, so refugees are seen as bringing value when they settle in a country and can. It might also help overcome political resistance to resettlement.
